42-year-old Him Bahadur of Gulria Municipality-8 is currently busy tending the 'Dragon Fruit' plants ready to bear fruit in the garden. He works in the field from early to late at night to take the dragon fruit to the market in the coming May. Summer is rising in Terai. At this time, the fruit is not nutritious if it is not mixed with fun.
It seems to be the time to grow, now if you don't get irrigation and good fertilizer, it won't give good yield. Leaving other work, I have taken care of dry gun fruit,' he said.
As there is enough demand, he has no problem selling the product . Having introduced the first product last year, he said it was a good business. "There was a daily demand for a quintal of dragon fruit in Banke," he said, "there was no need to send the end to sell." He said that after the attractive income in the first year of dragon fruit cultivation, farmers from within and outside the district also came to see their fields. Along with the fruit, he is also producing and selling dragon fruit berries .
Pun, who has been engaged in agriculture for 10 years, said that he has been cultivating dragons for two years. He said that after registering the Srimilan agricultural firm, he started dragon farming after not getting good income from vegetable, banana, fish and poultry farming business. "I was fed up with not getting the price from vegetables in the season," he said. During banana cultivation, the investment sank when the wind felled the plant and made a sakhap.'
One business after another, he said that he started dragon farming after watching YouTube. He said that since last year, the education and household expenses of his two sons have been going on with dragon farming. Two years ago, he planned to plant a dragon, but he was very confused in the search for the plant.
'He brought 1000 plants from Banke at the rate of 350 and started farming in Char Kattha,' he said, 'Now I have planted three species of dragons in my own farm, Malaysian Ping Ciel, Malaysian White and Israel Yellow.' As the land is located in the Indian border area, Pune says that he had to sell three parcels of land as the bank refused to give a mortgage.
"There is a problem due to lack of investment as required". I thought of farming with a new model, but because it is expensive, I have planted it in the old way," he said. There is a repeated complaint that despite several calls to the Integrated Agriculture and Livestock Development Office, no assistance has been received.
Pun, who sold products worth 5 lakhs last year, has estimated the production of 10 lakhs this year. He sells it wholesale at 400 per kg and retail at 500. He said that they are also doing inter-crop farming along with dragon farming. ``Dragon fruit farm yielded 5 quintals of potatoes,'' he said. Now he is planting chillies, bitter gourds, cucumbers, gourds, parsley and okra among the dragon plants. He also said that 1000 dragons have been sold so far. "We are ready to sell 1,000 bales," he said. Instead of wandering abroad to see what can be done by staying in the village, he again suggests that if you work hard in your own country, you will get good benefits from agriculture.
